O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de novilhos Nelore mantidos em pastagem de Brachiaria decumbens, suplementados com três tipos de aditivos, usados como promotores de crescimento na época das águas, durante 112 dias. Foram utilizados 60 bezerros da raça Nelore, com 12 meses de idade e 259,2 ± 10,68 kg de peso corporal médio. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, com quatro tratamentos (15 animais cada): controle (mistura mineral), mistura mineral com monensina (1.000 mg kg-1), mistura mineral com salinomicina (1.111 mg kg-1) e mistura mineral com flavomicina (333 mg kg-1). Os animais foram divididos em quatro piquetes de Brachiaria decumbens (com 6,7 ha) e submetidos a rodízios semanais. Foram avaliados consumo de suplemento, composição do pasto, desempenho e análise econômica. Os dados foram analisados pelo PROC GLM do SAS (2009) e as médias comparadas pelo teste de Tukey a 5% de significância. O consumo de suplemento mineral dos tratamentos com salinomicina e monensina foram menores em 27,5 e 38,8 %, respectivamente, em relação ao tratamento controle (P <0,01). Não houve diferença no ganho de peso dos animais que receberam aditivos e esses foram maiores que o tratamento controle (P <0,01). A suplementação mineral com monensina, salinomicina e flavomicina apresentou menor custo por arroba produzida em referência ao controle de 53,5; 42,1 e 18,3%, respectivamente. A eficiência do suplemento com flavomicina, salinomicina e monensina foi 56,1%; 88,2% e 142,3% maior em relação ao controle respectivamente. Foi concluído que a adição de monensina, salinomicina e flavomicina no suplemento mineral de bovinos Nelore, em pastagem de Brachiaria decumbens na época das águas, melhora o desempenho dos animais e aumentou o retorno econômico. / The objective of this research was to evaluate the performance of Nellore steers grazing on Brachiaria decumbens, supplemented with three types of additives used as growth promoters in the rainy season for 112 days. The total of 60 Nellore calves with 12 months and 259.2 ± 10.68 kg of body weight were divided randomly in four treatments (15 animals each one): control (mineral supplement mixture), mineral supplement with monensin (1000 mg kg-1), mineral supplement with salinomycin (1111 mg kg-1) and mineral supplement with flavomycin (333 mg kg-1). The animals were divided into four paddocks of Brachiaria decumbens (with 6.7 ha) and subjected to weekly rotation. It was evaluated the supplement intake, pasture composition, performance and economic analysis. Experimental data were analyzed using PROC GLM of SAS (2009) and the means was compared by Tukey test at 5% significance. The consumption of mineral supplement of the treatments with monensin and salinomycin were 27,5 % and 38,8 %, respectively, lower than the control (p <0,01). There was no difference in weight gain of the animals supplemented with additives but their gain was higher than the control treatment (P <0.01). The mineral supplementation with monensin, salinomycin and flavomycin presented less cost of meat production in reference to the control of 53,5; 42,1 and 18,3 %, respectively. The feed efficiency of the supplement with flavomycin, salinomycin and monensin was 56.1%; 88.2% and 142.3% higher than the control respectively. It was concluded that the feed additives increased the animal performance and the profit.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a recovery supplement compared with a placebo on muscle morphology in trained weightlifters. Vastus lateralis and muscle fiber cross sectional area of type I and type II fibers were compared between groups using a series of 2 × 2 (group × time) repeated measure ANOVAs. Both groups on average improved cross-sectional area of the vastus lateralis, type I and type II muscle fibers from pre-to-post but individual response varied within both groups. Greater magnitude of changes in type I and type II muscle fibers were observed for the placebo group but not for vastus lateralis cross sectional area. Additionally, subjects were divided into large and small fiber groups based on combined fiber size at the start of the investigation. These findings indicate that the recovery supplement utilized provided no greater effect compared with a placebo in a 12-week block periodization protocol in trained weightlifters. The primary determinate of fiber size changes in the study was determined to be the initial fiber size of muscle fibers with larger practical changes observed in the small fiber group compared with the large fiber group in type I, II, and ultrasound cross-sectional area (CSA).

Orientador: Ricardo de Oliveira Orsi / Resumo: O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar o efeito de suplementação com fonte de ferro inorgânico na qualidade da geleia real produzida por abelhas A. mellifera, por meio de análises proteômicas. Foram utilizadas 12 colônias de abelhas A. mellifera africanizadas, alimentadas com xarope de açúcar (proporção de 1:1 de água e açúcar cristal) suplementado ou não com sulfato ferroso heptahidratado (contendo 20% de ferro), nas concentrações de 0, 25, 50 e 100 mg L-1. A produção de geleia real foi realizada por meio da técnica de transferência de larvas, colhida, armazenada em vials estéreis e mantidas sob congelamento. Eletroforese bidimensional (2D-PAGE) foi usada para fracionamento das proteínas da geleia real e o ferro quantificado por técnica de espectroscopia de absorção atômica de chama (FAAS), com identificação das proteínas por Espectrometria de massas com ionização por eletrospray (ESI-MS/MS). Os resultados foram avaliados por ANOVA, seguido do teste de Tukey para verificar diferenças entre as médias (P<0,05). Observou-se que a suplementação da dieta com o mineral ferro afetou o teor proteico e o número de spots em quase todos os tratamentos e meses analisados. Observa-se ainda que a dieta contendo 100 mg L-1 de Fe apresentou maior numero de spots contendo este mineral, bem como no abdome das abelhas. As principais proteínas contendo Fe foram classificadas como do grupo MRJPs (Major Royal Jelly Proteins). Os resultados encontrados mostram que o ferro influência na qualidad... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Mestre

<p>Many salmonid populations are supported through captive breeding programs in which hatchery production supplies fish for reintroduction or supplementation efforts. In Lake Champlain, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are the subject of a reintroduction effort that is complicated by the occurrence of thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in adult salmon returning to spawn. This deficiency results in high offspring mortality rates that must be mitigated by hatchery interventions (reviewed in Chapter 1). I used an experimental transcriptomics approach coupled with survival analyses to assess genetic variation in thiamine deficiency outcomes (i.e., survival at the family level) and identified candidate genes that may comprise a putatively adaptive response to selection imposed by thiamine deficiency (Chapter 2). Using sequence data from this study, I next compared patterns of genetic variation in the Lake Champlain population against two other populations to identify signatures of selection associated with hatchery rearing environment and differences in life history strategies (Chapter 3). Finally, I surveyed salmonid populations for density-dependent effects of adult spawning density on per capita fitness and found that in many cases, hatchery releases can contribute to decreased individual fitness. Using genotype data for returning adults in multiple populations, I also tested for reductions in effective population size (Ne) associated with hatchery supplementation and describe how increasing hatchery contribution to a population decreases Ne (Chapter 4). Together, my results demonstrate the powerful influences of hatchery supplementation on salmonid populations and suggest that specific modifications to hatchery practices can limit negative impacts of captive breeding on population genetic and demographic characteristics.</p>

No description available.

A normal pregnancy consumes 500–800 mg of iron from the mother. Premenopausal women have a high incidence of marginal iron stores or iron deficiency (ID), with or without anemia, particularly in the less developed world. Although pregnancy is associated with a “physiologic” anemia largely related to maternal volume expansion; it is paradoxically associated with an increase in erythrocyte production and erythrocyte mass/kg. ID is a limiting factor for this erythrocyte mass expansion and can contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes. This review summarizes erythrocyte and iron balance observed in pregnancy; its implications and impact on mother and child; and provides an overview of approaches to the recognition of ID in pregnancy and its management, including clinically relevant questions for further investigation.

Objectives: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent and has been linked to increased morbidity and mortality. There has been an increase in testing for vitamin D with a concomitant increase in costs. While individual factors are significantly linked to vitamin D status, prior studies have not yielded a model predictive of vitamin D status or 25(OH)D levels. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if a prediction model of vitamin D could be developed using extensive demographic data and laboratory parameters. Methods: Patient data from 6 Veterans Administration Medical Centers were extracted from medical charts. Results: For the 14,920 available patients, several factors including triglyceride level, race, total cholesterol, body mass index, calcium level, and number of missed appointments were significantly linked to vitamin D status. However, these variables accounted for less than 15% of the variance in vitamin D levels. While the variables correctly classified vitamin D deficiency status for 71% of patients, only 33% of those who were actually deficient were correctly identified as deficient. Conclusion: Given the failure to find a sufficiently predictive model for vitamin D deficiency, we propose that there is no substitute for laboratory testing of 25(OH)D levels. A baseline vitamin D 3 daily replacement of 1000-2000 IU initially with further modification based on biannual testing appears to factor in the wide variation in dose response observed with vitamin D replacement and is especially important in high-risk groups such as ethnic minorities.

Currently aquaculture is the largest growing food sector in the world, however, its future growth is limited by its heavy reliance on fishmeal (FM). Overfishing of wild marine fish stocks used for FM is putting too much pressure on the stocks, making FM unsustainable as a dominant protein source as aquaculture continues to grow. Plant proteins (PP) are an ideal alternative to FM because of their wide availability and relatively low cost. Soybean meal (SBM) is the most commonly used PP in aquaculture, but its inclusion in feeds is limited due to reduced digestibility and the presence of antinutritional factors ultimately leading to a reduced growth performance of fish that are fed with the SBM-based diet. Therefore, the goal of this thesis was to mitigate the negative effects of PP and improve the growth of fish fed with a PP-based diet, utilizing SBM as our PP in feeds. Three feeding trials were conducted to test the efficacy of 3 approaches towards improving the use of PP in fish. The first trial (Chapter 2), tested the effect of nutritional programming (NP) on the utilization of SBM in zebrafish (Danio rerio). NP is the theory that an organism can be ‘programmed’ to better utilize a dietary component by being exposed to that component in its early life stages. This study also tested the effect of NP through the broodstock by exposing the broodstock to SBM for 4 weeks prior to breeding. In addition, a combination of both programming techniques was also tested. The results found that neither of the programming techniques had a significant effect on the growth performance of the zebrafish. Among the two groups from the programmed broodstock, the group that also received early stage NP had a significantly higher expression of PepT1, a di- and tri- peptide transporter. Also, the dual programmed group had the highest length-to-width ratio of the distal villi among groups that were fed SBM, which signifies an increase in surface area for nutrient absorption in the intestine. The findings from this study suggest that early stage NP may increase the absorption of nutrient from PP-based feeds within the intestine. The second feeding trial (Chapter 3), utilized the supplementation of health-promoting dipeptides to improve the use of SBM-based feeds for zebrafish. The three dipeptides used in this study were alanyl-glutamine, carnosine, and anserine. The five groups in this study consisted of three groups receiving an SBM-based diet with one of the dipeptides supplemented into it, a (-) Control group receiving a non-supplemented SBM-based diet, and a (+) Control group receiving a FM-based diet. Both the alanyl-glutamine and carnosine supplemented groups experienced a significantly higher weight gain compared to the (-) Control group. In addition, the alanyl-glutamine supplemented group had a significantly higher length-to-width ratio of the intestinal villi and, had a numerically higher expression of both nutrient absorption genes measured, PepT1 and fabp2, compared to the (-) Control group. This finding suggests that the supplementation of alanyl-glutamine into SBM-based diets may improve the intestinal absorptive capacity of the fish fed with the SBM. The results from this study also support the use of both alanyl-glutamine and carnosine supplementation as a means of improving the growth performance of fish fed with a SBM-based diet. The third feeding trial (Chapter 4), was conducted on largemouth bass (LMB) (Micropterus salmoides). This study also focused on NP as a means of improving the utilization of dietary SBM, similar to Chapter 2. In this study, live feed was used as a vector to program the larval LMB to SBM. The programmed group in this study received Artemia nauplii that were enriched with a SBM solution, during the larval stage. The bass were then fed with a FM-diet for 7 weeks, before being reintroduced to SBM for the final 6 weeks of the study (PP-Challenge). The programmed LMB experienced a significantly higher weight gain compared to the non-programmed fish also undergoing the PP-Challenge, and achieved a weight gain similar to that of the LMB that were being fed with an FM-diet. In addition, the programmed LMB had significantly longer distal villi and a higher length-to-width ratio of the villi, compared to the non-programmed group. The findings from this study support the use of live feed as a vector for NP and improving the growth performance of a carnivorous aquaculture species fed with a SBM-based diet. The overall findings from these studies suggest that both NP and dipeptide supplementation are feasible means of improving the utilization of SBM in fish. The mechanism behind NP seems to lie in the intestine. In both zebrafish and LMB, NP was found to reduce the inflammatory impact on the intestine and increase the surface area for absorption of the intestinal villi. The supplementation of alanyl-glutamine had similar effects on the intestine as NP and improved the growth performance of zebrafish. The observations from these studies seem to point to mitigating the negative effects of SBM on the intestine as the key to improving the growth performance of fish fed with a SBM-based diet.

The success of medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae ssp. asperum) as an invasive exotic grass in the western US is attributed in part to its low palatability. The nutritional context where medusahead grows can be modulated by the use of supplements that increase herbivores’ preference for unpalatable feeds. Additionally, positive experiences early in life (with mother, with supplements) can have long-life influences on preference for unpalatable feeds. To test the influence of the nutritional context on medusahead intake, ewes grazed with their lambs during summer of 2013 on medusahead-infested rangeland with (Treatment) or without (Control) the daily provision of an energy-rich supplement. To test for the effect of experience early in life at grazing medusahead on use of this weed later in life, lambs that grazed with their mothers during 2013 (Experienced) were exposed to medusahead (in pens and during grazing) as yearlings during summer of 2014 along with inexperienced (Control) animals. To better understand the unpalatability of medusahead, the fermentation kinetics of medusahead at different phenological stages and particle sizes was assessed. Ewes grazing with their lambs showed low use of medusahead (5% of the grazing events recorded), even when supplemented. Nevertheless, medusahead use increased across the grazing period and utilization was similar to medusahead abundance in the plant community. Use of medusahead by nursing lambs was correlated with that observed by their mothers and lambs utilized medusahead to the same extent either before or after weaning. Yearlings in pens showed low intake of medusahead and a cyclic pattern of intake across days. However, experienced yearlings displayed a more even intake of medusahead across days and a greater gain-to-feed ratio than Control yearlings. All yearlings showed low to nil use of medusahead during grazing. Medusahead had lower fermentation rates than alfalfa hay and fermentation rates declined with plant maturity. Organic matter digestibility for medusahead declined as particle size of the substrate increased, a relationship that explains the low palatability of the weed. These results provide the foundation for grazing treatments aimed at reducing the abundance of the weed or at preventing its spread in rangelands with different levels of medusahead infestations.